Internal Support for Applicants Applying to CIHR Project Grants

Updated 29-Oct-2024

UW CIHR RIF

The University of Waterloo supports and encourages its CIHR scholars in their research pursuits. We know that many proposals to CIHR that are worthy of funding are not successful because of insufficient CIHR funds. We also know that CIHR applications present a significant challenge for researchers, particularly the requirement of pilot data. The University of Waterloo’s CIHR Research Incentive Fund (RIF) is designed to support the improvement of CIHR Project Grant applications and increase the prospect of success for future CIHR Project Grant applications.

RIF awards may be used to generate pilot data, test or develop a research tool, help build collaborative research teams, or other activities that will strengthen the proposal for re-submission to CIHR. Funds may not be transferred to another institution.

All RIF recipients, regardless of funding stream, are required to submit their CIHR Project Grant re-application to the Office of Research by the competition’s internal editorial review deadline. This is to ensure excellent grantscrafting and strengthened applications are being re-submitted to CIHR. Should your application not be submitted for review by the internal editorial review deadline, it will limit your eligibility for future RIF funding. In addition, you are encouraged to seek feedback from other faculty who have experience with CIHR or connect with your Associate Dean, Research, to explore options to enhance the likelihood of success with your CIHR Project Grant application.

As for all research funding, any required certifications (for human participants, animals, biohazards) must be in place before funds are released to the researcher.

The Program offers two funding streams to invited applicants:

Funding Stream 1: Automatic RIF funding
If your unsuccessful CIHR Project Grant application was ranked within 5% of the funding rate, you are automatically eligible for $10,000 in bridge funding. You will be contacted directly by the Office of Research and you will be required to submit an electronic cover sheet.

Funding Stream 2: ECR/first time applicant RIF Eligibility
If invited by the Office of Research, Early Career Researchers or first time applicants to CIHR Project Grants may apply for a RIF if their recent CIHR Project Grant application was unsuccessful and does not align with Stream 1.  Please see the sections on “Eligibility” and “Application Package” below for how to apply. RIF awards of up to $20,000 are provided upon favourable recommendation by a review committee, dependent upon available funds.

Eligibility

  • Must be tenured or tenure-track, full-time Waterloo faculty, or hold a definite term research professor appointment, where the primary affiliation is with University of Waterloo.
  • Must be a Nominated Principal Investigator on an unsuccessful CIHR Project Grant submitted through University of Waterloo.
  • Must be willing to commit to resubmitting to CIHR within 2 years of receiving the RIF award.
  • Stream 2 applicants must have been an Early Career Researcher (ECR) as defined by CIHR, or a first-time applicant to CIHR Project Grants (for any project) at the time of the original CIHR application. Individuals who have been the NPA on a successful Project Grant through the University of Waterloo or another institution are not eligible to receive a Stream 2 RIF.
  • Individuals are not eligible to hold more than one Stream 2 RIF for the same project. Early Career Researchers who have previously received RIF funds are not eligible to receive a Stream 2 RIF.
  • RIF holders are eligible for the new Acceleration program.

Application process

For Funding Stream 2, submit the following as a single PDF file (except for the Office of Research cover sheet) to uwcihr@uwaterloo.ca on or before the application deadline:

  1. CIHR rating and ranking document
  2. CIHR Reviewer Comments and Scientific Officer Notes (if applicable)1
  3. CIHR Project Grant Complete Summary
  4. A plan to strengthen the application (up to 2 pages) that describes how the CIHR reviewer comments will be addressed, clearly indicating which proposed activities will require RIF funds, and how those funds will be used, along with other actions to address weaknesses. The link between the proposed budget and addressing reviewer comments should be clear.
  5. Budget for up to $20,000 that includes an explanation of what the requested funds will be used for and how this supports the plan to address reviewer comments (up to 1 page). In cases where the plan to strengthen the CIHR Project Grant application will incorporate additional funds beyond the RIF award, specify what part(s) of the plan the RIF funds will directly support
  6. For ECRs, if applicable. Previous RIF differentiation statement: if you have received a CIHR RIF award in the past, describe (up to ½ page) how your current unsuccessful CIHR proposal significantly differs from the one that you previously received a RIF award for to support re-submission to CIHR
  7. Office of Research Electronic Cover Sheet for Sponsored Research Activities
    1. approved by your academic unit and Faculty, must be available on the electronic cover sheet system.

Review Process

Applications for Funding Stream 2  will be reviewed by a qualified review committee. Applications will be reviewed according to the following factors:

  • Rating and ranking from the CIHR competition 
  • Overall strength of the CIHR project grant application with respect to its ‘fundability’ 
  • Reviewer comments, Scientific Officer notes (if applicable)
  • Quality and feasibility of the plan to respond to the reviews and improve the application, including how RIF funds will be used to strengthen the CIHR proposal.

Annual RIF Competition Deadlines

~August/September annually - to coincide with funding results of Spring Project Grant competitions.

~March/April annually - To coincide with funding results of Fall Project Grant competitions.

For more information:

Reach out to the CIHR team at uwcihr@uwaterloo.ca

UW CIHR External Review (UCER) Program

The Office of Research will arrange and cover the cost of up to three external reviews of any University of Waterloo-led CIHR Project Grant applications who meet all program deadlines outlined below.

This is an excellent opportunity to receive important feedback from experts in your field to ensure the competitiveness of the application. We strongly encourage Project Grant applicants to take advantage of this resource.

Eligibility

To be eligible, the Nominated Principal Applicant must

  • be tenured or tenure-track, full-time Waterloo faculty, or hold a definite term research professor appointment, where the primary affiliation is with University of Waterloo.
  • be an Independent Researcher as defined by CIHR.
  • be willing to commit to resubmitting to CIHR within 2 years of participating in the UCER program.
  • meet all program deadlines. Failure to meet any of the program deadlines will result in the application being removed from this round of external review.
  • Participants in the new Acceleration program are not eligible for the UCER program.

Process

  • ~2.5 months before CIHR application deadline - NPA emails the name, email, and phone number of between 3-5 suggested reviewers (do NOT suggest any that will be included in the application).
  • ~2 months before CIHR application deadline - NPA submits application package for external review.
    • This should be a fulsome application package with as many of the final components as possible (e.g. summary, lay summary, summary of progress, proposal, CV)
  • ~1 month before CIHR application deadline - External reviewer deadline to provide their feedback.

Anticipated Program Deadlines

For NPAs submitting to the Spring 2025 CIHR Project Grant competition

  • December 11, 2024 - NPA emails the name, email, and phone number of between 3-5 suggested reviewers (do NOT suggest any that will be included in the application).
  • January 6, 2025 - NPA submits the application package for external review.
  • January 27, 2025 - External reviewer deadline to provide their feedback.
  • February 27, 2025 by 9am - NPA submits full application by internal deadline

UW CIHR Top Applicant Acceleration Program - Pilot

The Acceleration Program is a by-invitation pilot where an expert panel will provide in-person scientific merit review to top applicants who were unsuccessful in a CIHR Project Grant competition. The purpose of the program is to further enhance the quality of unsuccessful but well-rated proposals and prepare them for resubmission to the CIHR Project Grant scheme in a following round.

Review panels will consist of three to seven members with differing expertise to ensure critical components/aspects of proposals are well covered. This includes scientific/technical merits and fit to the research pillar. It may also include panelists with expertise in areas including, but not limited to:

  • Knowledge mobilization/translation
  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Research Practice
  • Sex and Gender Based Analysis
  • Indigenous Research.

Eligibility

This is a by-invitation only program. To be considered for the Acceleration Program:

  • The original CIHR Project Grant application must be rated 4.0 or higher and the percent rank within the committee must be 50% or higher*
  • Acceleration participants must be willing to wait for the panel session before resubmitting to CIHR. Given the short turnaround between receiving a Notice of Decision and the next competition deadline, this inevitably means the unsuccessful applicants to a Spring Project Grant competition would not resubmit until the following Spring and unsuccessful applications to a Fall competition would not resubmit until the following Fall.
  • Acceleration participants must be willing to provide a copy of the draft application for the panelists to review in advance of the session.
  • Acceleration participants must be willing to commit to resubmitting to CIHR within two CIHR Project grant cycles of participating in the Acceleration program.

*Depending on the number of selected applications, the cutoff may vary.

Selection process

Decisions on selection will be made by the Associate Vice President, Health Initiatives on the recommendation of the Director and the Senior Manager, Funding Agencies and Non-Profit Sponsors (FANS). Potential participants will be approached directly.